What Is a Proprietary Charter?

Proprietary charters were most commonly granted for territories -- giving control over a particular parcel of land to settlers or a company. These charters became known as proprietary colonies and specified an amount of land that was to be given into the control of the governing body in question, such as Britain's Hudson's Bay Company. In the past, such charters often did not account for peoples currently occupying land -- such as Indigenous Peoples -- also known aboriginals, natives, or Indians -- in North America who had been living on the land for thousands of years prior to European arrival on the continent.

During the period of British colonialism in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, proprietary charters were commonly granted for endeavors taken overseas -- especially those taken to North America. Agents of the British Crown who traveled to the New World were granted large pieces of land for their own use and development. In Canada, Prince Rupert's Land was one such tract of land -- stretching over 1.5 million square miles!

Proprietary charters are no longer used in modern development. Today, land is bought and sold privately, and regulated by the government. In the past, proprietary charters were used to develop land outside the homeland -- for instance, to colonize far-away islands and territories such as North America. These charters were also used by monarchs to grant favors and to repay debts to those important to the Crown.

Charters are still in use today in much of the world, including countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Municipal charters are granted for the formation of cities, while project charters set the scope and responsibilities of a particular project that is being undertaken. Other charter types include corporate charters -- used to establish a corporate body as an official legal entity. Congressional charters were used until recently to set the authority and rights of a group; however, they were discontinued in 1992.